Department of Planning and Urban Studies

Master's of Urban and Regional Planning

Since its inception, UNO has graduated over 400 MURP students who are employed in
the private and non-profit sectors. MURP is currently the only accredited professional
planning program in Louisiana.

Historic New Orleans, an ideal place to learn about historic preservation and restoration,
becomes a living laboratory for anyone studying Planning and Urban Studies at UNO.
Our hands-on program encourages students to get involved in the community and to gain
skills that will aid them in the field to affect local change.

Department of Planning and Urban Studies (PLUS)

Historic New Orleans is a living laboratory for anyone studying planning and Urban
Studies. Cities are the focus of modern society. They are the centers of innovation,
international trade, arts and culture and economic activity. Cities depend on transportation,
housing ,water, power, waste management and other forms of infrastructure. PLUS studies
all aspects of urban development and sustainability, including neighborhood revitalization,
housing, transportation, local economic development, cultural preservation, environmental
planning and sustainable communities. Our hands-on programs encourage students to
get involved in the community and to gain skills that will aid them to affect local
change. PLUS is where art and science converge as we teach urban design, scientific
research and public policy.

Within our department we integrate the strategic intellectual and problem-solving
resources of five independent yet related academic program areas: Bachelor of Science
in Urban Studies and Planning, Master of Science in Transportation, Master of Science
in Urban and Regional Planning, Master of Science in Urban Studies and the Ph.D. in
Urban Studies. We house the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute (UNOTI)
and the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response & Technology (CHART) that work across
our primary program areas to employ knowledge and experience in addressing important
urban issues. We envision a world where engaged citizens and government work together
to improve their communities, where leaders adopt social innovations to look beyond
conventional remedies to solve urban problems, where environmental sustainability
is as valued as dynamic economic development, where diverse populations are consulted
in decisions that affect them, and where nations work from a foundation of equity
and opportunity to resolve global issues. Our students, alumni and faculty possess
enormous courage, dedication, and resolve to improve the quality of life for people
in our community.

The department fulfills UNO's mission to improve the quality of life throughout the
New Orleans region. We work with federal, state and local governments, non-profits,
business and industry. We actively seek to balance historic and cultural preservation
with growth and change.

Research Centers and Institutes

UNO Transportation Institute

The University of New Orleans Transportation Institute (UNOTI) focuses on the role
of transportation in creating a sustainable, livable and resilient future.

UNOTI combines applied research, outreach and education to impact positively the transportation
field from the local to the international spheres. The work done at the Institute
continues to be integral in the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans, and vital to
the overall sustainability and economic competitiveness of the nation.

Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (CHART)

The focus of the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (UNO-CHART)
is to support Louisiana community sustainability in light of natural, technological,
environmental and terrorist risks to which the region is vulnerable. The Center undertakes
applied social science research to understand ways in which Louisiana communities
and the coastal region respond to these risks, assist in the development of best practices
for reducing risks and helps in implementing these practices to achieve comprehensive
community sustainability. The second focus of UNO-CHART is the reverse dynamic-the
impacts of community activity-social/political/economic-on the ecosystems within the
coastal and southeast region of the state.